


A Dance of Falling Petals

by Bellflower



Category: Samurai Warriors, Shin Sangokumusou | Dynasty Warriors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Canon Compliant, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2018-12-17 22:47:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11861217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellflower/pseuds/Bellflower
Summary: KOEIwarriors drabbles for the years 2017-2018.All entries will be between 100-1000 words; used characters and pairings will be noted in brackets (along with any NSFW warnings) in each drabble header.





	1. Gunshot [Takatora/Yoshitsugu]

Others had often accused him of enjoying pain, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Why would he? Takatora didn't throw himself into the head of a battle for his own satisfaction. He did it for duty's sake... and for the sake of his comrades.

Pain radiated from his wound, a white-hot burn that stretched along skin and muscle and set his nerves alight. At the time it had happened he'd barely paid attention to the gunshot, focused entirely on protecting his partner and then diving in to take out their attacker, and even during its initial treatment he'd soldiered through without a word. Now, though... fever reddened his cheeks and he bit his lip, hissing loudly as the partner he'd saved changed the blood-drenched dressings for clean ones.

“Are you sure you don't want a drink?” There was humour in Yoshitsugu's voice, betraying the tease, but Takatora could swear that was a note of concern beneath it. “It might help you to keep quiet and stop bothering our squadmates.”

“I think you're more... _ah_ , more concerned about your own ears,” replied Takatora, attempting to scowl but only managing an unattractive grimace. “Maybe I should have let the shot hit you.”

Not that he ever would, but that wasn't the point. The dark jokes and poking fun at one another was just another part of their usual game, familiar and welcome as a partial distraction. Nothing could _entirely_ make a pain like this fade away, of course, not this level of scorching agony, but Takatora's body was strong and he wasn't going to let it consume him.

Yoshitsugu hummed, amused and fond both. Dropping a bandage and pulling his facecloth down, he leaned forward and, without any kind of warning, kissed Takatora's cheek.

A different kind of heat sprang to life in Takatora's chest, and for all of a single moment the pain evaporated as his eyes widened, his fingers curled and he huffed loudly, trying not to react in an obvious manner. Yoshitusugu laughed quietly.

“Thank you,” he said, without explanation, leaning back and returning to the task at hand.

The pain crashed back into Takatora's awareness, but the kinder warmth in his chest stayed where it was too. He said nothing in reply, but despite himself, despite the throbbing pulse of the gunshot wound on his shoulder, smiled.


	2. Memories [Motochika/Mitsuhide]

It's no beautiful day when they meet; the rain is lashing at Mitsuhide's face and he's regretting his trust of the weather report when he's pulled in underneath the wonderfully convenient shelter. Dots of moisture still drop through the leaves but he doesn't notice, because he's caught in the gaze of the stranger.

Pale brown eyes meet his own and something akin to memories wash through his mind, fill up his heart and crash over him. There's fire and dark laughter, the sensation of overwhelming pain, then a mountain and mud and a hand holding his own. Those eyes again, but they don't belong to a stranger. They're encouraging and warm, firm and supportive. 

' _I won't let go of your hand..._ '

A single beat and the memories are gone as quickly as they came; Mitsuhide is left once more as a very wet man beneath the boughs of some very large trees, his wrist being gripped by that very handsome stranger. Blinking, Mitsuhide shakes his head and tries very hard to ignore the flush in his cheeks.

“Thank you,” he says, obviously shy and affected. The stranger tilts his head and smiles. He has a tattoo on the right side of his face, flowing like a wave, and Mitsuhide traces it with his eyes without really meaning to. Oh. There's something important here, isn't there? Something he'd lost before.

“You're welcome,” replies the other man, shifting his grip to take Mitsuhide's hand instead, before his voice takes on an insistent and almost demanding tone. “Your name?”

And of course, Mitsuhide tells him.


	3. Rebirth [Xu Shu]

' _You may use me, also_.'

Lord Cao Cao's words, an undeserved offering made to a man who had been staring pitifully at the ground, echoed in Xu Shu's mind almost constantly for the first few weeks after they had been spoken. They did not fit the man he'd expected to meet when he'd been led bound into Wei's camp. They had no place in the world of the young strategist who had offered himself to Liu Bei for a single battle before expecting to fade away from history's gaze. They defied everything that ought to have been.

A simple sentence wrought in heated iron had cleaved into Xu Shu's soul and cauterised a wound he'd barely known was weeping, leaving him... changed. Different.

Reborn... yes.

Just as he'd said once freed from his tight bindings and given the chance to bow of his own free will. What this new life meant for him was something he still wasn't quite sure about, and there was plenty he had to do to truly make a place for himself within Cao Cao's service, but for the first time in years Xu Shu felt a faint sense of hope. Maybe he really could help quell the chaos plaguing the land... and perhaps find a sense of worth along the way.


	4. Hate [Jia Chong/Zhong Hui]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for blood and mild violence.

He hates this. Every time Jia Chong comes to feed Zhong Hui snarls and asks why he doesn't find someone less worthy to snack on, because he is more than a meal for a damn vampire to sustain himself on, but the creature just smiles the same way he always does and steps forward anyway.

Can he smell it? Hear it? Shiji, proud and talented, has realised he tilts his head back in anticipation before Jia Chong even comes too close. The pain bothers him and so does the shame of it all but despite that there's something that makes this experience... pleasurable, every single time. Heat rises before teeth even sink into his neck and when they do it become a throb in his chest, or even lower, a rush of something he doesn't want to call desire. 

Sometimes Jia Chong kisses him afterwards. There's nothing loving or romantic about the gesture, and his mouth always tastes like copper, the tang of metal instinctively disgusting, and yet?

It's good.

He hates this, but mostly because he's coming to love it. The pain and the heat and the taste of blood are dragging him down to Jia Chong's level and despite his ambitions Zhong Hui knows he's going to keep falling further.


	5. Words [Guo Jia/Xu Shu] + [NSFW]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dumb, but it was fun to write!

“I'm very fortunate... it's impressive that it was kept a secret for so long.”

Guo Jia sounded almost dreamy, even awed, which was entirely appropriate for the current situation. What he was saying, though? Was strange, strange enough that Xu Shu had to tip his head back and look up at his companion with a confused frown.

“Umm... I'm sorry?” he said, and Guo Jia laughed breathlessly, threading his fingers through dark hair as he did so. Beyond the heady desire you'd expect in this situation there was a touch of something mischevious and fond in his expression; it was exactly the kind of thing Xu Shu saw when he was about to get embarrassed and so, without even thinking about it, he averted his gaze.

“The fact that you can look so cute,” murmured Guo Jia, soft voice getting deeper and deeper with each word, “while also looking so unbelievably _sexy_. If that sweet bit of knowledge had gotten out I would have had to fight off armies while I was winning you over. ”

Oh. Well. Definitely embarrassing, yes. If it weren't for the fact that he was already flushed head-to-toe Xu Shu would have turned a lovely shade of crimson. Instead he curled his fingers against his lover's soft skin and wondered, not for the first time, if he was going to survive this relationship; Guo Jia was prone to coming out with the kind of compliment that would reduce most shy men to ash and while Xu Shu was getting a little bit more confident in some ways? He was still and would forever be exactly that kind of shy man. 

Falling in love with wisdom and laughter and a smile brighter than the sun was the most dangerous thing his heart had ever done.

“I think you might be exaggerating.”

Closing his eyes, Xu Shu took the 'easiest' way out and slid Guo Jia back into his mouth. Touching and pressing and loving with the body wasn't actually something he was particularly shy about once he'd been in someone's bed enough but the words that came with were another matter altogether and Guo Jia was, at his best, either absolutely filthy or so unrestrained with his praise and loving murmurs that it could leave a person feeling faint with it. Had he been like this with his previous partners? Just how many beautiful women had he whispered his sweetness to? Because enough of that could easily make a gentle heart fall deeply in love... Xu Shu had been lost long before he'd heard them but they would have surely sealed his fate otherwise.

Above him Guo Jia hummed happily, the grip of his fingers tightening.

“No exaggeration...” Every word was drawn out, warm and happy. “Cute... sexy... ahhh, and that mouth, such a sweet, sweet mouth, so good at taking my-”

Xu Shu swallowed, feeling his cheeks burn up as he successfully cut off what he suspected was going to be a drawn-out speech about a certain skill of his. He loved Guo Jia, he really did, more deeply than he'd ever known he was capable of loving someone, but it was much easier to hear the other man groan and sigh in pleasure than it was to learn just how many different words Guo Jia knew to describe each and every body part below the waist.

(Perhaps, one day, when he found sharing such things easier, Xu Shu would thrill his beloved by revealing the truly impressive secret he was hiding: that he was actually quite capable of saying the word 'cock.')


End file.
